The Brexit, migration, the Euro crisis, continued economic malaise, and the rise of EU-sceptical parties and nationalist sentiment across Europe - the European Union (EU) is in turbulence. In a new paper Ecologic Institute analyses how the concurrent crises could affect EU climate and energy policy. The paper is available for download. Read more

The Paris Agreement requires Parties to scale up their commitments every five years, i.e., with each consecutive "nationally determined contribution" (NDC). The recent proposal of the EU Commission for an Effort Sharing Regulation is essential for the EU to meet this obligation. The proposal, however, does not support adequately continuous scaling up of the EU greenhouse gas reduction targets. A new paper from Ecologic Institute discusses ways in which the Effort Sharing Regulation could support the scaling up of EU climate targets. The paper is available for download.Read more

On 20 July 2016 the European Commission published its legislative proposal for an Effort Sharing Regulation. A paper from Ecologic Institute provides comments on the Commission's proposal. The comments are available for download.Read more

As the EU considers early ratification of the Paris Agreement, this paper explains the related key legal questions that arise should the EU push to ratify without its internal burden sharing in place and without all Member States ratifying simultaneously. The paper is available for download.Read more

Citizens from around the Mediterranean participated in adaptation planning for the management of their local river basins. Based on a novel approach developed over the course of the EU-funded BeWater project, stakeholders from four case study river basins were engaged in a collaborative process with experts and policy makers to draft River Basin Adaptation Plans. Ecologic Institute was also part of this collaboration.Read more

The 2015 Paris Agreement requires the world's countries to overhaul fossil-fuel based economies and transition to low-carbon societies by mid-century - and asks that all develop national long-term strategies towards that end. Ecologic Institute has developed a concept for the evaluation of such long-term climate strategies for the project MaxiMiseR, run by WWF, which has now published results for the EU countries based on elements of this concept. The concept is available for download.

In October 2014 the European Council decided to enhance the availability and use of existing flexibility instruments under the EU Effort Sharing Decision. The auctioning of Annual Emission Allocations (AEAs) is one option to enhance flexibility. A new Ecologic Paper discusses advantages and challenges of AEA auctioning. The paper is available for download.Read more

For more than a quarter century, cutting-edge professionals in Germany and the United States have laid the foundation for a fundamental transformation of the financial industry. Due to their foresight and creativity, the world economy is poised to transition from a fossil fuel-oriented past to a sustainable, clean energy future. Several questions, however, still require answers. How can new opportunities be dynamically leveraged? What new risks are involved and how can they be managed? How best can ESG and sustainability indicators be quantified and integrated into the decision making process? And how do we move forward confidently amidst regulatory and policy uncertainty? Our goal was to determine what questions we should be asking as we set the stage for further research and dialogue, putting those of us committed to protecting the environment and the expansion of prosperity in position to create a dynamic and sustainable future.Read more